I'm referring to the parts of those chapters that deal with seeking after substance, having riches, and giving to the poor. We just barely covered the beginning of Jacob in my Insitute class and our teacher posed the question: "Is it correct for an upstanding mormon family to live in a sudo-mansion, have four cars parked in the driveway, a boat in the back yard, and a cabin up in the mountains when there exist people in the world without enough to eat?" It made for some interesting discussion, although all my disscussion group talked about was the movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness," which I haven't seen.
The class kind of side stepped a direct answer and said something to the effect of, well, everybody has their trials. Some have the trial of being poor and having to struggle to make ends meet while others have the trial of not being swallowed up in their substance and becoming prideful. I take it that that means yes, if the Lord sees fit to bless you with substance you can live a comfortable life, if you walk with a grateful and humble and charitable attitude.
Thinking more about Mosiah 4 where King Benjamin says that if we don't have, we don't have need to give. But if we do have and we do not impart with the poor, then we shall perish with our riches.
If we are well off in our finances, is giving a generous fast offering not enough? If we have more, should we consider filling in some of the other slots on the tithing slip? I'm always skeptical about giving to non-church charities, but does anyone else know of a good way to help out the poor and needy? Or should I be content paying fast offerings and let the Lord's judges in Israel distibute the money?
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"You should listen to your heart, and not the voices in your head." --Marge Simpson
I think the 'when people in the world don't have enough to eat' part of the question distracts from the important part. No matter how much you have, there's always someone worse off. We're not asked to give until we ARE the poor. We are asked to be READY to give. The important question is, how much is enough, and how do I give? And I think the answer is going to be different for everyone, regardless of income and possessions.
Someone else made mention that so long as we would be willing to give up everything we had at the Lord's command and live the law of consecration, then we were doing alright.
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"You should listen to your heart, and not the voices in your head." --Marge Simpson
It's easy to be distracted by the crushing burden of poverty, but then it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved in the kingdom of God.
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
Willing to give up everything at The Lord's command and then actually being generous with our time, talents, possessions and all the blessings The Lord has given us individually / as families when He hasn't commanded it are two seperate things in my book.
And it doesn't matter what part of the socio-economic ladder one is on.
My selfishness (which often becomes the catalyst to say "I would if I could, but I can't so I won't... but my heart is in the right place, and some day when I have I will!") is probably one of the many things that will keep me from a fulness of Celestial Glory should I die today or tomorrow...
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
Yes, the Lord blesses some with "substance" but whether you use that to buy a boat, a new SUV every 5 years, endowment funds at your favorite college, or supporting yourself on serial missions, it's all up to you.
Too many don't take "sufficient for our needs" seriously enough. Just Coco opinion.
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Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
I'm with Euph on this one. We don't live in a perfect society, so there will always be someone worse off. With our knowledge of the restored Gospel, we are under a greater obligation/responsibility to be good stewards of all that we have.
Having your retirement sufficient would be important. Is it a sin to have loads of money sitting in a savings/retirement account or letting poor people remain poor? What about having 4 computers for 3 or 4 people? Someone in Africa is starving and the cost of 1 computer would feed them for 20 years (exaggeration, but you catch my point).
We are commanded to give to the poor and some people choose to give everything they have to abide by that (Mother Teresa comes to mind). But, we can also give as much as we are able, abide by our covenants to give all to the Lord, and still have sufficient/more for our needs.
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It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.
If you are not generous with meager possessions then you will not be generous with riches and will go to hell either way. If you are generous with your meager possessions then you would also be generous with your riches and can go to heaven.
One man was commanded to sell all he had, give the money to the poor, and follow Christ. Abraham was a rich man, did not take from the spoils of war, and paid tithing. Benjamin worked with his own hands to support himself. Lazarus is in the bosom of Abraham while rich man Digas is burning in hell. Job was rich in money, flocks, and family, had it all taken away, did not curse God, and was then given twice as much. Ananias and Saphira gave almost everything they owned to the Lord, yet were struck dead instantly. If you are not equal in earthly things, you cannot be equal in heavenly things. D&C 78 God's system is to exalt the poor saints by making the rich low. D&C 104 God has promsied us that we will prosper in the land when we keep his commandments.
"God has promised us that we will prosper in the land when we keep his commandments."
A little over a year ago I went up to a friend's mission farewell. I knew him as a great kid, who had been baptized just over a year before he left on his mission, and who was temple worthy. Such a good, fun, caring, loving boy! So a group of us drove to his hometown for his mission farewell. We were driving up in a junky college student car, loaded to the max, and all of these older couples were driving in luxury vehicles, like Lexus, etc. All really shiny, and really new looking. In Relief Society I was gaping at the size of some of the ladies' rings! Many of the neighborhoods were gated communities with really nice, large houses. We had no idea this kid came from such wealth!
However, I found that the discussions in the classes were just as gospel-oriented as in my student ward, which is more than I could say for some other wards I've been in. The people seemed humble even though they had so much money, and they were really welcoming of us, even though we came from the rival school of the community. They were all happy to see that we were so supportive of the young missionary that they had supported in his baptism.
His parents (still not baptized as far as I know) threw a small little farewell party (they don't know about the church policy), and last minute most of the ward showed up to tell his parents what a great kid they had raised and how proud they were of his decision, and I saw so many people give his mom, dad, and even sister their numbers/email addresses in case they had any questions about anything at all.
It was completely obvious to me that these rich people were so supportive of each other, and so helpful, and so welcoming to those that aren't as blessed as they are, that their riches hadn't gotten to their heads.
In other cases, some people with riches make really stupid decisions, that end in lives full of sin (see Hollywood).
I guess those are just random thoughts on the state of rich people.
Honestly, I wonder if riches make a huge difference in the morals of people, or if the humble rich people would be just as humble if they didn't have the substance? The problem I see with being rich is being excessive in that you have to have "the latest" or you just aren't good enough, which would be pride.
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Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
— Oscar Wilde
I heard the Huntsmans Senior (well-known Utah millionaires) speak about 15 years ago. Marilyn Huntsman said exactly what the Organist said in his/her first sentence. If you aren't generous when you're poor, you won't be generous when you're rich. She told about her husband giving away the grocery money when they were poor students because he thought someone else needed it more. They've kept up that tradition of generosity.
For myself, we could be more generous. We have a modest home, but we have three vehicles (all paid for) and lots more electronic gear than I think we need. Of course, when I think something is unnecessary spending, it's generally something my DH is buying. I should look more to my own spending habits for ways to economize so we could be more generous.
